One of the main justifications for a patent system is that patents disclose useful technical information that others can learn from. However, patents are not performing this function well. The average patent is written in legalese, uses vague language, and is hard to connect to commercial...

In this comment to ITC Investigation 337-TA-745 (Certain Wireless Communication Devices, Motorola v. Apple) we, as teachers and scholars of economics, antitrust and intellectual property, remedies, administrative, and international intellectual property law, former Department of Justice lawyers...

Under the current rules of patent recordation, it is impossible to be sure who owns a particular patent, or what patents a particular entity owns. This “who owns what” problem frustrates risk management and decision-making about patents, creates arbitrage and hold up opportunities, and forms...

One of the purposes of the Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP) is to harmonize standards and create a uniform climate for trade and investment. As lawmakers deliberate the terms of the deal, they must consider what the long‐term impact of agreeing to its sweeping provisions will be. As they do...

Software innovation is transforming the U.S. economy. Yet our understanding of how patents and patent transactions support this innovation is limited by a lack of public information about patent licenses and sales. Claims about the patent marketplace, for example, extolling the virtues of...

Over the last two decades, more than a thousand amici, representing hundreds of organizations, companies, and individuals, have signed onto amicus briefs in over a hundred patent cases, many of them landmark decisions. This paper turns the spotlight on these “behind-the-scenes” actors in the...

The International Trade Commission (ITC) provides a special forum for adjudicating patent disputes involving imports. It offers several advantages over U.S. district courts to patentees, including relaxed jurisdictional requirements, speed, and unique remedies. Unlike district courts, the ITC...

This report, supported by funding from the New America Foundation, details the experiences of startups with patent assertion based on surveys of about 300 venture capitalists and venture-backed startups conducted in 2013. According to survey responses, patents for novel inventions play a...